23 comments:

Russert had his thinly veiled biases, but being an upfront Repub partisan as Snow was is a big part of why there won't be the Russert-like outpouring. And along with that, as a general proposition, anybody who was Rush Limbaugh's handpicked guest host for years aint gonna get fawned over by the MSM.

Sorry to hear this. He displayed a marvelously engaging personality, at the same time not hiding his viewpoint. As to whether or not his passing is played up as much as Russert's, Snow's has been expected, and the coverage at his resignation was reasonably extensive, while Russert's passing was completely unexpected. I think that there is a tendency to dwell on the unexpected in a search for comfort that is not so urgent when one has had time to accept the inevitable and anticipate its arrival.

A guy that was humble, but his own honesty and good nature beamed through as he did his work.

Another poster mentioned Paul Newman, who is far, far to the Left of me - is losing his fight with cancer. There are few celebrities I admire more than Paul Newman.Paul Newman was in the top 20 on the 1st Chuck Colson Enemy's List (Nixon had no role in it's creation). And at one point used his Hollywood power to try and marginalize other, more conservative Hollywood figures.

But, as a man, he is/was so much more than the legendary "cool" actor of 4 1/2 decades. WWII Navy combat Vet. A true, world class auto racer competitive with the world's best. (He came in second in one Le Mans, is listed in sports records as the oldest driver who was part of a winning tean - Daytona 24 hours, 1995 age 70.) A natural athlete.Married 50 years to the same woman, Joanne Woodward. Donated 220 million to charity over the years from his creation with his business manager of "Newman's Own", plus 10s of millions in philanthropy from his and Woodward's personal funds.

Meandered off-topic with Newman, who I met once. Just thinking, like Tony Snow, he is another rare man, not just a celebrity/famous journalist - who will be missed because people sense we are diminished by his loss.

Tony Snow was a class act and a gentleman. His classic handling of Helen Thomas - a White House Correspondent legend who has fallen into a sad pathetic self-parodying hate-filled shell of her former self - was a example of his greatness.

On June 13, while traveling in Paris with Mr. Bush, Ms. Compton (of ABC News) received another unexpected message from Mr. Snow, who by then was quite sick, she said.

He had heard that Helen Thomas, the 87-year-old veteran White House correspondent with whom he had had some of his most pointed exchanges, was ill. “If in touch, would you please pass on my love,” Mr. Snow wrote.

I always enjoyed his tenure over at FNS; his wryness was great, and he always treated guests of all viewpoints with fairness - and didn't suffer foolishness and evasiveness like so many of his Sunday-show competitors/colleagues.

It was when he was guesting on Rush where you got more of the wryness and "a little more leg" regarding his point of view, but even notwithstanding his stint as W's pressman it's difficult to think of Tony Snow as a "partisan" as the term has come to be understood (i.e. pejoratively).

It's sad when the few people in politics with a genuine bonhomie and sense of humor are passing from the scene. Will be interesting to see in what shape the upcoming generation of media professionals' best and brightest will manifest.

There be another outpouring of gushing praise when he dies? Didn't that happen when he left Govt because of his cancer? How many outpourings is a public official allotted?

Russert's death was surprising, and Snow's, despite his comments that he would beat his cancer, wasn't. I think that makes a difference when the media is writing about -- and others are reacting to -- deaths of public officials.

I will miss him greatly. More than any other political analyst, it was Tony who asked the question, or gave the response, that I gave to my TV set in response to his guest.

Bob Beckel told a great story in remeberance of Tony. He and Tony were doing back-to-back speeches at some event. Beckel drank too much the night before and had a hard time writing his talk the next morning. Tony wrote Beckel's talk for him, complete with liberal jokes and attacks!

I couldn't have said it any better!! I was shocked by Russert's death but I didn't spend the weekend watching memorial shows on him, with tears streaming down my face like I did with Tony. The loss of Tony Snow will be felt for a long time to come. He leaves a huge void that cannot be replaced. Our loss is heaven's gain.